MADISON, Wis. (AP) – Black students at the University of Wisconsin-Madison want the school to remove a 70-ton boulder from campus because its nickname is a racial slur.
The Wisconsin State Journal reports the rock has sat on campus since 1925. It’s officially known as Chamberlin Rock after Thomas Crowder Chamberlain, a 19th-century geologist and university president.
But at the time of its discovery, some referred to it colloquially as “N*****head rock,” a commonly used expression at the time to describe any large dark rock.
Black students at UW-Madison also have called for the removal of the campus’ Abraham Lincoln statue.